These 5 dividend stocks are rated a Hold by TheStreet

Legacy Reserves LP, an independent oil and natural gas limited partnership, engages in the acquisition and development of oil and natural gas properties primarily located in the Permian Basin, Mid-Continent, and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. The company has a P/E ratio of 140.55.

The average volume for Legacy Reserves has been 140,500 shares per day over the past 30 days. Legacy Reserves has a market cap of $1.6 billion and is part of the energy industry. Shares are unchanged year-to-date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

TheStreet Ratings rates Legacy Reserves as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, compelling growth in net income and good cash flow from operations. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including generally higher debt management risk and feeble growth in the company's earnings per share.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

LGCY's very impressive revenue growth greatly exceeded the industry average of 5.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues leaped by 85.5%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.

The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels industry. The net income increased by 85.5% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from -$23.57 million to -$3.42 million.

The gross profit margin for LEGACY RESERVES LP is rather high; currently it is at 53.74%. It has increased significantly from the same period last year. Regardless of the strong results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of -3.23% trails the industry average.

LEGACY RESERVES LP reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. We feel it is likely to report a decline in earnings in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, LEGACY RESERVES LP reported lower earnings of $1.43 versus $1.71 in the prior year. For the next year, the market is expecting a contraction of 62.2% in earnings ($0.54 versus $1.43).

The debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43 is relatively high when compared with the industry average, suggesting a need for better debt level management. To add to this, LGCY has a quick ratio of 0.64, this demonstrates the lack of ability of the company to cover short-term liquidity needs.